Will customers know it is not me?

It does not claim to be you and it does not perform being human. It is your business answering a message, in the same way your website answers a question. Nobody is being tricked, which is the only version of this worth running.

What stops it making something up?

It answers from a set of facts you give it about your business and nothing else. Anything outside that set is treated as unknown, and unknown means hand over, not guess.

No. Pricing is a judgement about a specific job, and it is the fastest way to lose money or a customer. It collects what is needed and books you a call.

What about a phone call rather than a message?

The same boundaries apply, and voice raises the bar because a person cannot see it is a system. Most businesses are better served starting with messaging, where the stakes of a mistake are lower and the transcript is there to read.

Answering

The same four questions, answered without you.

Every business has a handful of questions that arrive over and over: do you do this, do you come out here, are you certified, when can you look at it. Answering them is not skilled work, but getting one wrong is expensive, which is why the limits matter more than the cleverness.

A question after hours

Answering the same four questions, without you answering them.

Finished

Trigger
Somebody asks something
8:20pm. "Do you do gas fitting as well?"
Decision
Do we actually know this?
Checked against what you told us, not against the internet.
- Known, answer ittaken
- Not known, take a message instead
Action
Answered, and only that
"Yes, Dave is gas certified. Was it a new install or a repair?" No invented prices, no promises about timing.
Logic
Kept on the rails
Anything about price, timing or liability stops and waits for a human. This is a hard boundary, not a preference.
Action
Handed over cleanly
When it hits the boundary it says so plainly and books a call instead of guessing.
Result
You read it in the morning
A person who got an answer at 8pm, and a note about what they still need.

run log6/6

20:20:07message received · channel: website chat
20:20:08intent: service capability · in knowledge base: yes
20:20:09answered from business facts · no price quoted
20:21:44follow-up asks cost → BOUNDARY: pricing is human-only
20:21:45handover offered · "Dave will price it, when suits for a call?"
20:22:30call booked Thu 09:00 · transcript saved to enquiry #4823

Demonstration of a system we build, not a recording of a live client system. Times, numbers and names invented.

Demonstration of a system we build. The question, the business and the timings are invented.

The only interesting question

Not "how smart is it". The interesting question is what does it do when it does not know, because that is the moment a system either protects your reputation or spends it.

In the run above, the customer asks what it will cost. That is a hard boundary, so the system stops, says plainly that a person prices the work, and books a call. It does not estimate. It does not say "typically around". It stops.

What it is allowed to know

A set of facts about your business that you supply and can change: what you do, where you go, what you are certified for, your hours, how you like to be contacted, and the things you get asked constantly. It is not connected to the internet at large and it does not research your trade.

That sounds like a limitation and it is the entire safety design. A system that can only repeat true things about you cannot invent a service you do not offer.

The handover

When it hands over it does three things: says so, collects what you would have asked for anyway, and books a real time. Then you get the transcript. You are not reconstructing a conversation from a name and a number.

An honest note about the category. A lot of what is sold as an AI receptionist is a chatbot with a confident tone and no limits, and those are the ones that quote prices they should not and promise Tuesdays that do not exist. The limits above are the product.

Where it stops

No price, ever, in any form, including a range.
No commitment to a time that is not in your calendar.
No opinion on liability, safety or compliance.
No answer to anything it was not told. It says it will find out.
No pretending to be a person if somebody asks it directly.

Questions

Before you ask.

Will customers know it is not me?: It does not claim to be you and it does not perform being human. It is your business answering a message, in the same way your website answers a question. Nobody is being tricked, which is the only version of this worth running.
What stops it making something up?: It answers from a set of facts you give it about your business and nothing else. Anything outside that set is treated as unknown, and unknown means hand over, not guess.
Can it quote?: No. Pricing is a judgement about a specific job, and it is the fastest way to lose money or a customer. It collects what is needed and books you a call.
What about a phone call rather than a message?: The same boundaries apply, and voice raises the bar because a person cannot see it is a system. Most businesses are better served starting with messaging, where the stakes of a mistake are lower and the transcript is there to read.

Which four questions do you answer every week?

If you can list them, they can be answered without you. If you cannot, that is worth knowing too.

Talk it through